Ride-sharing startup Uber expects record-setting valuation

Uber Technologies, a San Francisco-based firm that arranges car ride-sharing services, expects to draw a “record-breaking” valuation at its next funding round.

Bloomberg News quoted chief executive Travis Kalanick as saying: “We are raising money right now… This one could be record breaking. I think folks have seen what’s been reported.”

He was referring to reports, some of which peg the value of the company as high as US$17 billion.

Uber, which has rolled out its ride-sharing service in 115 cities globally, is in talks with investors to raise money that will value the firm at more than $10 billion, sources told Bloomberg earlier this month. That would make Uber one of the most richly-valued private technology companies, along with Dropbox and Airbnb.

“I think the opportunity that Uber is facing is a very, very big one,” Kalanick was quoted as saying. “We should finance against that opportunity — so that you can get this to every major city in the world.”

Uber was founded by Kalanick and Garrett Camp in 2009. The company has raised US$307.5 million from investors including Benchmark, TPG Capital and Google Ventures.

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